Guildford MTB Epic 9 july

 Guildford MTB Epic

A while back Malc D said that he always wanted to ride the Downs link . This is a supremely non technical converted railway track from Guildford to Bramber. After studying the maps Steve worked out a route from Godalming to Bramber followed by the south downs to Firle where a train could be taken back to Hastings . This would make an epic 65 mtb ride.

Six riders were up for this but three pulled out, leaving just Steve Derek and Malc  up for the challenge. This was disappointing at the time but with all our train problems it turned out to be fortuitous.

The easiest train to get for Godalming was from Hastings to Clapham common and then just one change to Godalming.

Arriving at the platform in good time, we started to load the bikes into the carriage, only to realise they wouldn’t all fit. We quickly disembarked and found the wider carriage space (marked by a red stripe) and pressed the button to open the door. Despite jabbing at it, nothing was happening and then to our horror the train started to pull away and left without us, great!

After speaking to the guy at the ticket office and then a ticket inspector, Derek worked out an alternative train route via Brighton and Gatwick, although this would take us to Guildford rather than Godalming.  Despite involving two train changes and a ride in a lift this worked out really well and we arrived at Guildford in good time.

Easy riding on the Down's Link

If Steve was navigating, we would then have had a good hour of getting lost before picking up the planned gps route. Fortunately Malc was with us and after a couple of minutes studying a map outside the station , Malc superbly directed us through Guildford straight to the Down link (how does he do this?).

Now we were on the trial we could relax. In many ways the downs Link is similar to the cuckoo trail but much better as the trail is wider and not plagued by all the dog walkers. We soon got into a steady rhythm and with no rush to get home , we had two tea stops on the way . Both of these were velo cafes, these seem to be springing up everywhere. They were both very good although the second one named Stan’s Bike Shack was our favourite as it was directly on the trail at Partridge green. https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g1821840-d7021354-Reviews-Stan_s_Bike_Shack-Partridge_Green_West_Sussex_England.html

Its quicker to push this train home that wait for another crew

Thinking that we could do with the extra calories, both Steve and Derek indulged in very sugary cakes at both cafes. A couple of miles down the trail they both started to feel weak. Being a science teacher, Steve realised that the cakes were to blame. When the body has a sudden intake of sugar, the pancreas pumps out insulin to lower the blood glucose but sometimes it over compensates (especially when exercising) resulting in a subsequent low. After a few miles Steve began to feel better but Derek was still feeling shaky. Gradually he began to feel better but by now we were moving onto the South Downs way and things were going to get much tougher.

A young French rider on an old specialised hard tail asked us about how to reach a particular hill on the South Downs. We were going that way and suggested he rode with us, so our company had now grown to four. Felix is a bike courier in Lyon so despite riding an ancient bike with a broken pedal he was easily able to outride us .

Steve was  feeling strong and felt no tiredness at all. Maybe this was because his leg wound had forced him to take three weeks off the bike (so plenty of recuperation) or perhaps its because his doctor has recently increased his blood pressure medication?
Derek however was feeling the opposite and was now really tired so we decided that rather than ride to Firle we would settle for lewes instead. This also had the advantage of plenty of excellent pubs.

Two of Steve's favourite things: trains and bikes!

Bienvenue Felix

It was mainly climbing up to Devils Dyke where we said goodbye to Felix. From here it was mainly downhill to lewes. Some of the descents were in very poor condition due to all the horses that had used the paths during the poor weather. Even on full suspension bikes Malc and Derek were getting bumped around on the final decent past lewes prison, but things were far worse for Steve on his hard tail who had to ride standing out the pedals for around three miles before daring to sit down. This has made him seriously consider purchasing a full suspension Whyte!

The Anne of Cleeves house where we normally buy sandwiches was shut but we found a friendly pub where we gulped down three pints of beer and a very nice bowl of cheesy chips. Malc choosing a fish finger burger !!

Feeling the buzz from the food and alcohol all we had to do now was get home on the train . This should have been easy but with the on going industrial action this was anything but. One train was cancelled so the next one was absolutely rammed with people. To get our bikes on board we had to hold them up vertically for the entire journey. Derek got told off when his bike clipped a child in a buggy and we were squashed up against a disabled man in a wheel chair. Then at Eastbourne all the passengers were told to disembark as there was no crew to complete the journey to Hastings. After a half hour wait another train rammed with passengers turned up but fortunately most of them disembarked so it wasn’t too bad getting the bikes on board for the final leg home.

This was a really enjoyable day, we would love to do this ride again in a couple of years time but the hassle with the trains has put us off ( As you will see however we decided to commandeer a train which should get us there quicker than the railway company )
The best we can hope for is a circular ride that incorporates the south part of the link which will give us another chance to visit the excellent Stans Bike shack

Steve C/ Derek